Padres en Nicaragua V

Pedro:  Thursday was a relaxing/travel day to Managua.  We lounged around all morning writing a couple days worth of blogs and then went to lunch at La Casita.  I figured this would be your favorite restaurant out of the bunch, was it?

Madre:  Claro!  Anyplace with organic foods, yogurt and chai tea will always be high on my list.  Plus, the fact that it was in a lush rainforest setting sealed it – definitely a favorite.

Pedro:  Glad you liked it.  Afterwards we drove in the rain back to Managua.  Dad did a good job weaving our rental car throughout the crazy Pan-American highway traffic didn’t he?

Madre:  Crazy traffic is an understatement.  Since not many people in the northern part of Nicaragua seem to own cars or motorcycles there was a fascinating assortment of traffic on the highway and along its narrow edges.  We saw, of course, lots of people getting to their destinations by simply walking along the road, but they also used every other imaginable type of transportation, including bicycles (sometimes with multiple people balancing on the bike), 3-wheeled cycles, horses, donkeys and ox carts.  Of course, your father also had to watch out for dogs, horses, cows and chickens along the road that could potentially wander in front of our car.   And the side roads in the towns were frequently just dirt with enough bumps, holes, mud or standing water to make driving on them a real challenge.

Pedro:  But we arrived safe and sound in Managua and returned our rental car without any penalties for scratches, dents or over-used shock absorbers.  We spent the night (again) in the hotel eating and drinking free items in the fancy pants “Executive Lounge”.  Then Friday morning I went to the airport to pick up Michelle and we all traveled to Leon.  How’s it been so far?

Madre:  Traveling with the locals by “micro-bus” and then by taxi from the rundown area of town to get to our hotel in Leon was like being in an episode of a cable television travel show.  However, we were pleased to see that our lovely hotel here in Leon, which I’m assuming is the nicest one in town, is a beautifully restored convent with manicured gardens in the center.  It also comes with 24-hour security guards at the door and imposing Nica-style walls and fences surrounding it to keep us tourists safe.  The restaurants that we went to for lunch (a French-style bakery) and dinner (a tapas restaurant) to celebrate Michelle’s birthday were both great.  I especially liked that Chef Gustavo at the restaurant came out of the kitchen to greet us and to talk to us since he lived for a while in the US and could speak English quite well.

Pedro:  What did you think about our activities in Leon?

Madre: The Nica version of museums was certainly eye-opening.  It was interesting to learn about Nica history at the “Museo de la Revolucion” but I would have thought they could have come up with more than a few photos and a dog-eared cardboard poster board with newspaper articles taped to it, especially since their revolution didn’t take place all that many years ago.  But our guide certainly tried to make up for the lackluster, non-air conditioned museum conditions by giving us the grand tour, including taking us up on the rusted metal roof of the rundown building for good views of Leon (another one of those “this would never be allowed in the US moments”).  And going to the beach so we could sit in a primitive tiki hut with festive beverages, swim and walk in the sand along the Pacific Ocean was memorable, too.  Thanks so much for planning such a wide variety of things for us to do!

Mom and Pedro in front of the cathedral

Pedro:  You’re welcome.  It was great to have you here.  Any final thoughts about your trip to Nicaragua?

Madre:  This may sound harsh but it’s easy to see that this is a very poor country.  The cathedral in Leon, which is the largest in Central America, looks absolutely awful from the outside, though it is still reasonably nice inside.  When traveling abroad (or even in the US) I am used to seeing some poor neighborhoods, but here almost every neighborhood looks poor.  I’d go as far as saying that 90% of the buildings here look like they should be razed with a bulldozer and the rest almost all need a power wash, some paint and repairs.  There are children begging on the streets and people at every large intersection in Managua trying to sell things to people in cars to attempt to support themselves.  Your father and I have even more respect for the improvements that you and other volunteers are trying to bring about here.  Keep up the good work, eat more and please stay healthy (sorry, the mom in me couldn’t help adding that last part)!